DEBT/EDUCATION/TRUMP PEOPLE/BETSY DEVOS: “One of the nine companies that manages the federal government’s $1.2 trillion portfolio of education loans is fighting to stop the Education Department from handing the job to a single contractor.
The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, commonly known as MOHELA, filed a protest this month with the Government Accountability Office over a contract solicitation the department amended in May. While the original contract sought to create a single online platform for use by multiple loan servicers, the Trump administration revised the terms to have one company build the portal and collect student debt on its behalf.
When Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced the revision, the department had already narrowed the field of bidders to three finalists: Navient, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and a joint venture of Nelnet and Great Lakes. Whichever company is selected from that pool will have the ultimate domain over the portfolio, placing loan servicers like MOHELA in jeopardy of being pushed out once the existing contracts expire in 2019.
Officials at MOHELA declined to discuss the protest because it is still under review, while the Education Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the matter.”
-Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, “Student loan company protests DeVos’s decision,” The Washington Post online, July 18, 2017 01:34pm